Trojans come out on top against Bluejays in district opener

Nodaway-Holt teammates rally around Shaina Culp who can’t believe she just hit a running 3-pointer to beat the buzzer into halftime. Culp’s 16-point performance led the Trojans to a 50-45 win over Northeast Nodaway February 18 in the Class 1 District 16 opener.

By Dustin Henggeler

It’d had been a couple of months since the two teams had faced off, but both Nodaway-Holt and Northeast Nodaway coaches knew it was going to be another close matchup heading in to the opening round of the Class 1 District 16 game in Graham. Seeded fourth and fifth in a bracket, where it was anyone’s to take, proved that the win wasn’t going to be by much either way.

Mostly consisting of traded leads and back-and-forth momentum swings, the two teams never got far from the other but it was Nodaway-Holt who came out on top as the Trojans defeated the Bluejays 50-45 to advance in the district bracket.

“Tonight was two evenly matched teams,” Nodaway-Holt Coach Shawn Emerson said. “And for us, it was playing with a little adversity with how we struggled to score that first half. But we played together and finished strong.”

To read the rest of Dustin’s story and for more photos, see the February 22 printed edition.